The Free-Falling Optical Profiler, or Profiler II, measures the color of the ocean and how it varies spectrally throughout the euphotic zone. The Profiler II is used by the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Australia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, Germany and Israel to provide calibration and validation data for ocean color satellites. It is used operationally by naval research groups to provide observations of the optical properties of the ocean for anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures and laser LIDAR bathymetry. The Profiler II is also the workhorse sensor suite for the global optical oceanography community who investigate basic fundamental biological and physical processes that involve light in the ocean.

The Free-Falling Optical Profiler offers researchers the unique opportunity to use this system as a free fall profiling device or in conjunction with a detachable float for near-surface measurements (HyperTSRB). The Profiler II is designed to interchange Satlantic’s hyperspectral or multispectral optical sensors making this system the most versatile platform for measuring the apparent optical properties of the ocean.

The Profiler II system comes complete with a molded flotation collar that is easily mounted to the profiling frame for real time, near-surface measurements. Upwelling radiance and irradiance measurements can be collected as close as 5 cm from the sea surface.

The optional integration of Wet Labs ECO series sensors offers a new combination for concurrent determination of chlorophyll fluorescence and optical backscattering in either profiling or surface mode.

Physical Characteristics

SatView is a real-time interactive data logging and display application for use with Satlantic radiometers. SatView makes it easy to connect to your Satlantic instruments and view time series, spectral plots, and depth profiles while capturing data for subsequent conversion and post-processing.

SatCon is a software utility for converting raw binary data, as logged by SatView, into readable ASCII text suitable for import by third party applications such as spreadsheets or databases. Data can be extracted in calibrated physical units or raw binary counts. SatCon can be operated interactively through a user friendly graphical interface, or in batch mode as a background process.

For minimum system requirements, installation instructions, and new features, please refer to the release notes in the SatCon User Manual.

SatView 2.9 Manual

Profiler II Manual

How do I avoid the effects of the ship's shadow when logging optical data with the MicroPro II?

The free-falling profiler is designed to profile away from a small boat or large ship to avoid any potential shadow effects. The instrument is deployed by hand from the leeward side of the vessel and allowed to descend while the vessel drifts downwind. When the profiler is pulled back up to the surface, the fins cause the instrument to maintain its location and come straight up. Using this method, the optical profiles can be performed at a safe distance from the vessel.How do you avoid the effects of the ship's shadow when logging optical data with the MicroPro II?

How do I avoid the effects of the ship's shadow when logging optical data with the MicroPro II?

The free-falling profiler is designed to profile away from a small boat or large ship to avoid any potential shadow effects. The instrument is deployed by hand from the leeward side of the vessel and allowed to descend while the vessel drifts downwind. When the profiler is pulled back up to the surface, the fins cause the instrument to maintain its location and come straight up. Using this method, the optical profiles can be performed at a safe distance from the vessel.

Where do I find the Pressure Tare button in later versions of SatView?

In later SatView Versions, the Pressure Tare button is located under the ancillary view at the "package" level. To open the ancillary view at the package level: Notice the white section of the SatView main window - this is where your loaded instruments appear. Within this white section, at the very top there is a suitcase icon, with the individual instruments treed out underneath. Right click to bring up a drop down menu, select "View List" and "Ancillary View" to open the package level ancillary window that contains the Pressure Tare button.

What are SIP files?

Files that are delivered with Satlantic and third party equipment to describe the sensors data output and calibration coefficients come in two types. Calibration files or *.cal files and telemetry definition format files or *.tdf files. In some cases, systems are created that network many sensors together and their combined data is provided in one serial output.

The simplest example is a HOCR sensor that generates both light and dark frames. A more complex example is a HPROII profiling system that may contain as many as 5 sensors and 7 individual calibration and tdf files. These files must be used to both collect and process the data.

This can become quite confusing to keep track of all these files so Satlantic developed SIP files. All CAL and TDF files required for a system are zipped using winzip and the extension changed from *.ZIP to *.SIP. The file name includes the system description (usually the network master serial number) and the creation date. This SIP file can then be used in place of individual files to collect and process data.

Profiling Hardware (Deck Unit and Cabling) (Optional)

The MDU-300 deck unit serves as both a nominal 48 Volt DC power source for the in-situ FIRe system and as an RS-422 to RS-232 level converter. The MDU-300 provides three connectors for data and power.

Float collar

The removeable flotation collar is easily mounted to the profiler for real time, near-surface measurments. Upwelling radiance and irradiance measurments can be collected as close as 5 cm from the sea surface.